Summer School
by Angry Mob
Summary: Updated Every Day! McGonagall insists that Harry won't ever return to the Dursleys so he spends the summer at Hogwarts and begins preparing to fight Voldemort.
1. Chapter 1

AN: Please read this Author Note! (It's important, and should be the only one longer then a sentence for the whole of this story.)

I will be updating this every day. Yes you heard me, every day! (For most of the summer at least.) The amount I update will vary a great amount, hopefully around 500-1000 words a day, defiantly a minimum of 300 a day. If I have a good reason not to update, then I'm sorry and I'll try to keep these to a minimum, however if I don't have a good reason, I'll make it up with 1000+ words the next day. This is to try to get back into writing, so don't expect the content of this story to be perfectly polished and that well thought-out.

As far as the story is concerned, I'm going to fly through the first few school years fairly quickly, only looking at the time Harry spends over the summer at Hogwarts. The events of the books will have roughly the same outcomes to keep things fairly close to cannon; however the way we get there may be slightly different. As the books get longer and the plots get more complicated I will begin to diverge from cannon.

I have a few possible pairings in mind, but we'll have to see how things go along the way. You might be able to have an input into this.

As I live in the great country of England, most updates should appear around 10:00 GMT or later if I'm going out. I'll try to limit the number of drunken updates, but I can't promise.

So be warned if you add this to your alerts list then expect a lot of e-mails. If you prefer a more continuous way to read your FanFiction, then I may be making a website and adding this story in larger sections.

Phew. If you didn't read any of that get back now and read it all you naughty child. Anyway, I hope you like this story, here's the first, a long update, to get things started. Enjoy!

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><p><span>Chapter 1:<span>

"Answer the door boy!" Uncle Vernon yelled from his position on the sofa in front of the television. Harry sighed and dragged himself off of the relative comfort of his bad, and opened the cupboard door. The bell rang again, and Harry rushed to get it before his Uncle got too angry at him.

He found on the doorstep a rather peculiar person. She appeared elderly, yet held herself with a strength and dignity that warned Harry not to mess with her. She was wearing an odd long black cloak and her black hair was held up in taught bun above her head. Before Harry could take in more of her appearance, she spoke:

"Are you Harry Potter?"

"How...Only my teachers call me that and I haven't seen you in School. Have I done something wrong?"

"No of course not, why would you think that." This wasn't what she was expecting. "Now what do people call you if they don't call you Harry Potter. Do you go by Harry or do you have a nickname?"

"No, they call my boy..."

Just under one year later.

"You have to understand Minerva, Harry must go back to the Dursleys. The blood wards must be replenished."

"Why?" She demanded angrily.

"Well, otherwise they wouldn't work. I thought you were cleaver then that my dear."

"I didn't mean that you old fool. I meant why does Harry have to go back there at all. Ever!" She glared at him, and knocked the bowl of lemon drops he was offering her out of his hand. "I'm serious, why can't Harry remain here over the Holidays."

"He couldn't possibly stay here. For a start who would look after him. No-one but Hagrid is here all summer, and as much as I love him, I don't think he'd be able to hold off the horde of Death Eaters that are still out there, let alone Voldemort. Hasn't Harry's most recent encounter taught you that he must be protected?" He finished speaking, and clasped his hands together playing the wiser than you look.

She was furious now. "Don't you dare trying to blame me for that incident. I left Harry in Flitwick's very capable hands, after he told me what he knew about the stone. I came straight to get you, and if he hadn't managed to give Filius the slip then Voldemort would be immortal by now. If you had put some proper defenses around the stone, rather than that half baked 'test' you made for him, then none of this would've happened."

Dumbledore shifted uneasily. She was being such a pain, and she'd even gone as far to mess with his lemon drops. She'd defiantly never been _this_ angry before. "The point still stands, Harry needs the protection the Dursleys can provide him with, and I know things might be a bit rough, but I'm sure he can put up with a few weeks of it. They are his relatives after all."

"They hate him. He was malnourished and physically abused. He would slave after them all morning, go to school with no friends and get bullied by his cousin, go home and slave for them while getting bullied by his uncle, then go to bed in the cupboard under the stairs. If you call that 'a bit rough' then I'd hate to see your childhood."

"Maybe I'll have a few words with Petunia then. If they leave him alone all summer that'll be fine, and he can get all his work done in peace."

"Sorry Albus, but I can see you don't get it, so I'm going to have to spell it out for you. Harry Potter will not be returning to the Dursleys this summer or ever! I've yielded to you before on the issue, but not anymore." See took a deep breath and stared down the aged Headmaster till he broke eye contact and looked out of the window.

"To answer your original question, I'll be looking after Harry at Hogwarts."

"I'm sure you have better things to do with your summer then looking after a student Minerva." Dumbledore was clutching at straws and McGonagall knew it.

"Nonsense and you know it. My two sons left home years ago, and as you know my husband is dead. Thanks for bringing it up by the way." She added sarcastically causing him to look away again in shame. As you know I've got nothing to do with my summer, which is why I agreed to attend your pesky muggle bridge nights last year. I've spoken to Professors Flitwick, Sprout, Vector and Babbling, and they have all agreed to return to Hogwarts with me for various periods. Plus Madam Hooch and Madam Porphyry will be around. There will be at least two competent teachers and Hagrid at the castle all summer to look after him."

"Now as long as you update the wards so only selected people's magical signatures are allowed inside the grounds then nothing will happen. Only Voldemort would be able to bring down Hogwarts wards, and that would take at least half an hour and the wards would alert you. The certain ghosts and paintings that you use to spy on the pupils will be able to keep you informed of how things are going, and of Harry's safety."

"You've presented a sound argument, but I feel..."

"Stop Albus! Stop now before I get really angry. I've told you what's happening, and that's what's going to happen. I'll see you at the leavers feast."

"That's a lot of presents you've got there Harry, you seem to have a lot of friends and a few female admirers by the look of some of those cards; especially that one with the beating heart."

"I don't know. It keeps singing this annoying muggle love song by this horrendous Muggle singer that Dudley likes."

"That can't be that bad, I think it's sweet."

"It's from a seventh year..."

"Oh"

"...Slytherin."

"Ah. Maybe it is quite bad then. Don't worry though Harry I have some good news. I've argued your point with Professor Dumbledore, and he's agreed to let you stay here over the summer."

Harry jumped out of bed and hugged Professor McGonagall in joy.

"Thank you, thank you, thank you, thank you. You're the best teacher in the whole world."

Harry had become attached to the transfiguration professor, and although she might deny it, she had a certain soft spot for him, ever since she had rescued him from the Dursleys. She taken him to the leaky cauldron, and although she didn't have time to show him around as she had to visit other first year families, she had arranged for Hagrid to show him around the alley, and buy him his school equipment.

He'd spent the last week of the holidays exploring the ally and all it had to offer. He was staying at the leaky Cauldron and the only rules Professor McGonagall had given him were that he had to be back by seven for tea provided by Tom the barkeeper, and that he wasn't allowed to stray into Knockturn Ally or Muggle London. These weren't difficult boundaries to keep as Harry had more than enough to keep him occupied in the alley.

Every day he'd get free meals at the leaky Cauldron, free ice creams from Florien, free use of all the books at Flourish and Blotts as long as he'd return them by the end of the day, and by spending a few hours organizing clothes onto the correct racks each day, Madam Malkin had given him some new clothes that fit so he wouldn't be a laughing stock at Hogwarts.

Over the process of the week he'd learned all he needed to know about the wizarding world, met some current and soon to be students, and for the first time in his life had fun.

Now at the end of his first year at Hogwarts he could truly appreciate what the short stint in Diagon Alley had done for him over the year. He'd carefully selected his friends to avoid all the hero worshipers he'd met while living in the Ally. He only wanted to know people who saw him for Harry not the 'Boy who lived.'

His best friends Hermione Granger, Neville Longbottom, Susan Bones and Hannah Abbott were great. Although Susan and Hannah had been sorted into Hufflepuff, not Gryffindor like him, Neville and Hermione, they still met every day in the library to do their homework, and they saw each other in Herbology and Transfiguration.

For the first week Harry had been followed around by Ron Weasley, but Harry didn't like the way he kept insulting Hermione, who Harry had first met in Diagon Alley and really liked. Harry had told him to leave Hermione alone or get lost, so Ron left Harry alone for the rest of the year, making friends with Dean and Seamus his other roommates along with Neville.

Harry limped down the corridor grinning. Madam Pomphry had finally relented and let him go to the leavers feast.

He pulled the doors to the great hall open, and crept in. Unfortunately someone spotted him and called out. Three Quarters of the hall got to their feet, and started applauding him. He waved a hand in thanks then scuttled off to the Gryffindor table where Hermione and Neville were waiting for him with an empty space between them.

He'd talked to his four friends in the hospital wing, and they decided that the population needed to know that Voldemort wasn't dead and everyone needed to prepare for when he eventually returned. That meant of course telling everyone about their adventure to rescue the stone, and the part he had in stopping the Dark Lord.

They'd spoken to Dumbledore, and fortunately he'd agreed with them and made the announcement before the meal had begun. Madam Pomphry had insisted on giving him a checkup before he left the Hospital wing, so he missed the speech, but it appeared Dumbledore hadn't saved the detail as most of the school was still applauding. Finally the clapping and whooping finished, and he was able to eat some food and talk to his friends.

In what seemed like no time at all, everyone was packing their bags, and preparing to leave. Fortunately Dumbledore had also explained to the students his situation with the Dursleys and about him staying at school. The Headmaster had also asked people to leave him alone and not crowd him, so apart from people pointing at him, smiling, and holding doors open, he was left mostly alone to say goodbye to his friends.

He stood by the gates with Filch and waved to the carriages as the left off down the road.

"You better get back to school now kid. Dumbledore has said it's not safe for you to go outside without supervision, and I'm heading off now. And remember our little talk. If I find the slightest thing out of place when I get back you're going to regret it."

Harry nodded dutifully and watched as the caretaker sauntered off down the road. He smiled as he headed down the drive back to the castle. He was really going to enjoy the next ten weeks.

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><p>AN: Thanks for reading. Any reviews are greatly appreciated!<p> 


	2. Chapter 2

Chapter 2:

An empty school is a funny place. He'd had to go back to their primary school once over the summer when Dudley had left his favorite toy in his draw. Uncle Vernon had forced open one of the older, smaller windows, and made Harry climb in and get it back.

That was only two years ago, but Hogwarts was quite a bit different. Firstly the size, he could wonder for hours on end and visit places he never even been before. Then there were the paintings, muttering to each other and watching his every last movement. Although uncomfortable, this did make the castle a more lived in feel, and without the paintings Harry was sure he'd get lonely very quickly. Having nothing better to do with their time, most of the inhabitance of the paintings were overjoyed to talk to Harry; recounting tales of their adventures and offering him advice.

From the paintings, and just spending time wondering the empty corridors in the daylight rather than the night as he tended to do in term time, he began to learn more about the castle. He learnt of good hiding places, shortcuts and secret passages. It was only one week into the summer when an eager to please pair of young witches told him about the room of requirement.

He spent the most part of a day, spending time as a normal eleven year old should messing around and having fun. The room never ceased to amaze him. First a dueling arena, a luxury five star hotel suite, then he moved onto outside environments and found the room's ability wasn't limitless, but it did a very good job of simulating what it couldn't complete. Harry's favorite by far was a desert; The heat didn't come from the sunlight, the fruit wasn't edible, and boundaries stretched for about fifty meters in each direction, but for what Harry needed, a place to relax and enjoy life, it was perfect.

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><p>"Professor, can I talk to you for a moment?"<p>

"Yes Harry." McGonagall put down her Quill making sure not to run the ink, and looked up at the young boy.

"Well, you know Voldemort tried to get the stone and kill me?"

"Yes Harry, it's quite a difficult thing to forget."

"Well, won't he try and do the same again, I mean he tried to kill me as a baby, so what's stopping him from trying a third and a forth. The next time he would probably succeed, I mean I've only know magic existed for a year, and he's the most powerful wizard there's ever been."

"Well, he might but we're here to protect you."

"But if he's the most powerful wizard there's ever been, then couldn't he kill you as well."

"I'm sure Dumbledore is more than capable..." McGonagall interjected quickly rather taken aback at his abrupt approach.

"But Dumbledore's the headmaster; he can't look after me all the time. Just like when he was 'called' away to the ministry, and you know what happened then."

"So anyway, I've been thinking, and can you train me so next time when Voldemort attacks me I can defeat him, or at least hold him off till other people arrive. If I train really hard all the time then I can get as good as him. He'll be really complacent being the best, so he won't be training as hard as me, so I can catch him up without having to be really old like him."

"Well I wouldn't put it quite like that." Professor McGonagall replied rather impressed at his reasoning even if it was a bit childish.

"But I'm right aren't I. If I start now I'll have a better chance next time I meet him."

"I suppose I could help you with a little extra curricular study if you're that enthusiastic about learning. I must admit I get a bit frustrated with some of the attitudes of the students at Hogwarts nowadays. This _is _a school after all."

McGonagall looked over the desk at the excited young boy, twice the savior of the wizarding world. The boy didn't know how right he was. Dumbledore had always hinted there was something extra-special about this boy, and Professor McGonagall had been able to connect Dumbledore's insistence that Voldemort was still alive, with his special attention to Harry. She didn't know what that something was, but giving Harry a head start in his education would certainly help Harry's chances against the dark wizard in the future.

Harry was waiting for her to continue patiently. "Are there any particular areas you want to focus on?"

"Well, I've been doing a bit of research in the library, and I think knowing how to animate large objects would be useful, because you could get them to block spells without having to think about it, and becoming an animagus would be really cool and useful."

The Transfiguration Professor smiled affectionatly. At least he hadn't insulted her subject by demanding her to teach him dueling and 'cool' spells, but he had picked two of the most difficult and flashy things you could do with Transfiguration.

"I'm afraid we only teach sixth and seventh year students how to animate large objects with the ability to understand instructions, and we only cover the theory behind Animagus in your final year at Hogwarts. Maybe we should work on holding together your shape and the internal structure of objects you transform, and then perhaps we can move onto controlling the movements of small transformations with a combination of charms and Transfiguration. I'm sure Professor Flitwick would be keen to help you with this, as it's something you'll start to look at next year."

"But that's just like normal school, and I'll learn all of that soon anyway. I want to learn spells and skills that I can use in a real fight. I promise I'll read up on the theory the rest of the time when I'm not being taught."

She fell silent for a few minutes, mulling it over in her head, before throwing her arms in the air in despair. "You really are impossible to reason with. I'll talk to Professor Flitwick and we'll try some more advanced battle techniques for a week, and if it isn't working we'll go back to the basics. If you want to become a powerful wizard, then you're going to have to work for it."


	3. Chapter 3

Chapter 3:

Harry collapsed into his favorite chair in the Gryffindor common room. He was exhausted. When Professor McGonagall said he was going to have to work for it, she defiantly meant it. It was like a sort of game they played. They would throw everything at him, waiting for him to give in, like they were testing him in some way.

If at any point in time during the last year he'd thought school was difficult, his opinion had changed. School was easy. This was another matter. He would get up, then have a special nutritional breakfast laid on for him by one of the overly friendly House Elves. He would have an hour of Physical exercise, overseen by Hagrid, who would get him to run laps of the Quidditch pitch, work in his vegetable patch removing weeds and digging holes for new plants, or collect and carry fallen logs from the forest into the entrance hall, ready for the House Elves to distribute around the school.

At first he'd been confused with how this would help him, but Hagrid explained how besides being able to dodge spells better, the fitter you were the less damage spells would do to you. He'd used the stunner as an example, and explained about a piece of research where younger more healthy people were proven to recover from the Stupefy spell quicker than older less healthy people. It had given him a new enthusiasm for doing exercise, and had made him re-evaluate his opinion of Hagrid, who he assumed wouldn't be interested in such subjects.

Now after only two weeks of regular exercise and healthy eating, he could already see and feel the subtle differences. His features had become more sharp and defined and he'd grown more muscle, moving away from the chubby, round headed, lost boy look he'd been showcasing last year.

After having a cup of tea with Hagrid he would move onto his lessons, split equally between Charms and Transfiguration. With Professor McGonagall, he was learning an application of the transfiguration spell that they'd been learning all year, to make it useful in battle. The ultimate aim was to be able to transfigure either large objects, or if there were none, then the earth, into granite or a similar hard material and shape it into a wall, all in a split second to catch a spell that could penetrate a shield.

At the moment she was having him work on the material. To change what material an object is made from you first had to first understand the properties. The whole purpose was to make the material strong enough to ultimately withstand a killing curse, so McGonagall had told him it was essential to get the strength right and until he was able to produce granite that was stronger than the real thing, they wouldn't be doing anything more advanced for that particular trick.

Another area they were working on was self-transfiguration. McGonagall had explained how although it obviously isn't as reliable as polyjuice potion or his invisibility cloak, he wouldn't always have them with him, and being able to disguise oneself at a moment's notice was always a useful if not essential skill to have during a war.

Being a skill not taught till the final years at Hogwarts, Harry was only working on changing the lengths of his fingernails and hair, but he was making good progress and so far McGonagall was impressed, no matter how hard she tried to hide it.


	4. Chapter 4

Chapter 4:

"We're not going to need our wands today Harry." Flitwick squeaked from behind his desk as Harry entered the charms classroom.

"Why not Sir, I managed to learn all of three spells that you taught me yesterday."

"I've been thinking this through and think we need to change tack. Now there's something that most adults have and you don't. Do you want to take a guess?"

"Um..." Harry scratched his head. What did adults have that he didn't? "They're bigger than me, they've already finished Hogwarts, so they know lots more spells."

The Charms Professor smiled kindly, and shook his head. "You're thinking too literally. You think too much about spells and physical aspects. There are other just as important areas, not least of which is experience. Someone who's been in hundreds of battles and survived, yet only knows three or four good spells, would easily be able to beat a novice with hundreds."

"Knowing what to do, and when, are the two most important things in a battle. You may know the best most deadly spell in the whole world, that no-one else but you knows, but it can still be easily defeated. How would you avoid such a spell?"

"You could make a shield." Harry responded after a few seconds thought.

"Exactly, but something even easier, you could dodge. If the spell is a direct spell by which I mean, one which only has an effect on impact such as the Killing curse, then they can be easily dodged or blocked by a solid object. An indirect spell such as the large fan of fire I showed you last week can easily be blocked by solid objects or shields."

"All of these methods won't work on every spell, so knowing what to do to for each spell to protect yourself is just as important as knowing the methods. Do you understand now?"

Harry nodded. "Sort of."

"Excellent. Now I'm going to suggest situations, and you're going to have to come up with the best way of avoiding harm as quickly as possible. Let's start off with an easy one. What's the best way to avoid fire?"

"...Could you just put it out with water?"

"Exactly, most fire spells can be cancelled out fairly easily by a simple aguamenti, and also using less energy than the enemy has the use making the fire. Most people forget this, and try to hide and protect themselves, resulting in becoming burnt and venerable to a second attack. Now what about this one? What could you do if I managed to hit you with a banishing charm?

Harry thought for a moment. He had plenty of experience of this particular charm, and on previous occasions all he'd had time to do was brace himself as best he could for impact and the pain that was bound to follow.

"Um I'm not really sure sir, try to protect your wand and head as best you can so you can keep fighting afterwards."

"You need to think a bit better than that I'm afraid Harry. Most people will only know that they're going to get hit when they actually do, so they're taken by surprise and the force of the spell force them into a state of shock and they don't do anything. You need to make the split second decision if you're going to be hit by a spell or not, sometimes you can even choose to be hit by the spell to give your opponent a false sense of security. Then when you're flying backwards it's easy enough when you've had practice to simply fire the same spell in the opposite direction. If you hit a wall, Newton's second law should counter your direction of movement and bring you to a standstill. If you're in an open area, you can still cast a cushioning spell or counter or transform a rope or something for you to hold onto to bring you to a stop without injuring yourself.

We can practice this spell on you later if you're up for it, but let's move on. Now how would you counter an expelliarmus?"

"Well, couldn't you just hold onto your wand a bit tighter, and wait for the spell to finish, like we did the other week?"

"That would work if you were prepared for the attack, however the spell is mostly used to catch people off guard and disarm them quickly and easily, winning the fight before it's even started. A much easier method it a simple sticking spell of you wand to your hand. You have to be very close to use the counter curse to remove the wand, and it will render the expelliarmus spell useless. Maybe even when someone uses it on you, they'll be so surprised that it doesn't work that you'll be able to fire the next spell giving you an advantage. This sort of prior planning can really make the difference whether you survive a battle or not against a superior opponent."

"That's really cleaver." Harry looked thoughtful. "I never realized there was that much thinking involved in a fight."

"Normally there's not. Only the best at dueling even bother with such subjects. Alastor Moody's a perfect example. He may be over Paranoid, but there's no chance of catching him unaware, which is why he's survived years of being the Ministries best dark wizard catcher. This sort of thinking is what separates Dumbledore and Voldemort from the rest of us. They've both spent years studying, and are two of the most intelligent people in the world. I've only ever watch them fight once, and I only understood half of what was happening."

"To match they're level, yes you need to train and study, but you also need to learn how to think like them. Only then will you be able to fight Voldemort and stand any chance of winning."

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><p>AN: Sorry about missing a day, hope this makes up :) Massive thanks to everyone who's reviewed so far, really help me keep writing!<p> 


	5. Chapter 5

Chapter 5:

Harry lay still thinking about what Professor Flitwick's had said to him earlier. After their discussion of tactics, they'd gone into greater detail looking at spells and how they worked in general. Before he'd assumed that all spells fired from whoever would have the same effect as long as they'd mastered the spell. Apparently he was wrong. He remembered how Hagrid had explained how a spell would have a different effect on different people, but he didn't think that would work the other way and different people would cast a spell in a different way.

Hermione would always be able to do a spell better than Harry, but he assumed that was because she was just closer to getting the spell right then Harry was. In reality, there was no limit to how good a spell could be performed, but to teach the entire curriculum, they had to move on to different spells in class before this became apparent.

Harry had changed tack since Professor Flitwick had given him the lesson on intelligence. Rather than trying to learn every spell there was to learn, he now wanted to improve every spell that he knew to such an advanced level that even Voldemort wouldn't be able to shrug off his stunner.

He and professor Flitwick had selected five spells that Harry already knew and would be useful to work on more to get them to a good level. They were the disarming, stunning, banishing, hovering and summoning spells. Harry would perform the charm, get corrected, try again, and get corrected again. They would try different objects, different situations and with different handicaps. They had only had one session so far and already it was repetitive and tiring, but even Harry could see the difference in the power and accuracy of his spells. The professor had been impressed at his progress and had said it might take half of the week that he'd predicted it would take for Harry to get the spells to a level he was comfortable with.

It was the end of the week. For seven long grueling days Harry had followed the routine, and he'd survived. Looking back it felt longer than a week; for that matter it felt longer than a month. He was on his way to Professor McGonagall's Office. She'd told him to meet her there to discuss his progress. He knew how ominous it sounded, but that was just her way of doing things. Harry was happy with the week and if the teachers weren't then he'd still carry on even if he had to learn from the books in the library.

He reached the door and knocked firmly.

"Come in."

Harry pushed the door open and smiled warmly at the two professors behind the desk. Despite McGonagall sitting, she still towered over the tiny professor. Harry sat in the chair and looked up expectantly.

"So Harry how have you found the week?" Flitwick asked eagerly.

Harry smiled ruefully. "It hasn't been easy, but on the whole I think I've enjoyed it and I'm sure that I've improved."

"You definitely have. It's been a pleasure teaching someone so eager and open to learn. I wish all the students had such a passion for my subject." McGonagall sighed. "In face I don't think I've taught someone so passionate about my subject since your father."

Flitwick nodded. "I think I could say the same for Charms and your mother. They both were exceptional people Harry. I can't think of anyone they'd be more proud to have as a son then you."

Harry smiled and quickly wiped the tears from his face. He managed to choke out a thanks, and took the proffered tissue.

After giving Harry a moment for Harry to compose himself, McGonagall continued. "So if you're still up for it we would love to continue these lessons. Filius will be around for another week, so we can continue as normal, then Professor Vector and Madam Pomphry will be back from America and will be around the castle."

"Do you think they'll be willing to give me lessons as well?"

Flitwick chuckled. "If you want to try your hand at Artithmancy and Healing then we won't stop you. Just be warned that they may not be as easy or come as naturally to you as the stuff we've done so far. I'll also expect you to keep up with the work we've been doing while I'm away. If you've found this week hard then you'll be in for a shock with what I'll make you do if I come back and find you've been slacking."

Harry gulped and made a mental note to work double as hard after Flitwick had left. He merely nodded his compliance and waited for what to do next.

McGonagall glanced at Flitwick and nodded. "I think that's all, now I expect you in my classroom for some work on fluid manipulation and shape strengthening in ten minutes, so you better go and get some lunch quickly."

Harry nodded his thanks and set off for the kitchens at a jog.

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><p>AN: Too fast? Too Slow? I'm just about managing to keep up with the schedule, hope your enjoying it so far!<p> 


	6. Chapter 6

Chapter 6:

"Hello Harry, It's very nice to meet you properly at last. You may have seen me at meal times."

Harry nodded and shook the proffered hand. Professor Vector was very tall, very slim, and very attractive. She had long pitch black hair that wouldn't look out of place on one of the muggle hair commercials. Harry hadn't really taken much notice of the Arithmancy professor, but the residents of Gryffindor tower were hardly restrained with their compliments. She usually wore a standoffish frown that kept most people at a distance, but today she was smiling kindly down at him, bringing her cold face to light.

"Nice to meet you too Professor."

They shook hands and Professor Vector motioned along the empty corridor, and began walking. "I take it you know why I want to speak to you?"

"Yeah. Professor McGonagall said she was going to ask you to give me lessons."

"She did, although I must say I was surprised. There aren't many people who find my subject particularly interesting. Most people only take it when they find out to become a curse breaker, Senior Healer or Unspeakable they need at least an OWL in Arithmancy. Therefore I wouldn't normally expect a rule-breaking Gryffindor first year to be particularly enthusiastic about taking extra lessons over the summer."

She looked over at Harry, which he understood to mean she was asking a question. "Well, Hermione's always talking about different branches of Magic, and which options she wants to take when we get to our third year." He noticed her eyebrows raise and added "She's very ambitious and forward thinking."

"Anyway, Hermione took an Arithmancy book out from the library and it looked really interesting. I guess that's why I asked Professor McGonagall to ask you to teach me. I want to learn as much as I can to defeat Voldemort, and I bet he didn't learn any Arithmancy, so hopefully I'll have an advantage over him."

Harry was surprised when Professor Vector didn't flinch, and his opinion of her immediately increased.

"A good answer Mr Potter. We're almost there." They carried on for a few more corridors in silence, then the Professor pulled up abruptly and entered a classroom.

She strode behind the desk and motioned for Harry to sit at one of the front benches, which he hurried to do.

"Now let's start at the beginning. What do you think Arithmancy is?"

Harry gulped, and racked his brains. What was in that book again.. " Is it something to do with how magic works?" He ventured cautiously.

She smiled warmly. "It's not something to do with how magic works. It's everything to do with how magic works. In Arithmancy we look at the theory behind spells. How a spell works, how to maximize the potential and efficiency of each spell, the maths in wand gestures and even how the wands works."

"Wow. That will answer just about every question I've ever had regarding magic."

"That's quite a big list of complex questions for a fist year to have."

"I've got them all written down in a list in my dormitory. I'd planned to look in the library or ask a teacher when I had the time. I think the only one you didn't cover is how I have magic and Hermione and all the other muggleborns do, while my aunt doesn't"

Professor Vector let out a small laugh. "Quite the inquisitive mind. Why don't you go get that list, and see if we can find a few answers?"

* * *

><p>AN: I don't know about you but I don't think the books go into enough detail as to how magic works, so I'm going to give you my version in this story. If anyone has any ideas on this subject, feel free to send them in, and I might include them.<p>

Loving the reviews so far, thanks, keep them coming!


	7. Chapter 7

Chapter 7:

It was seven in the morning and Harry was extremely tired, yet he found himself trudging across the front lawn to Hagrid's hut. Yesterday Flitwick had started giving Harry dueling lessons, and he hadn't started softly. Instead he threw Harry in the deep end by firing a barrage of spells at him. Flitwick had told him he'd softened the stinging spell he was using, but it didn't feel like that to Harry.

"G'morning Harry, how's it goin'"

"Fine thanks Hagrid, what are we doing today? You mentioned you had a job for me."

"That I do. You remember back in that detention you met some centaurs?" Harry nodded, "Well something very odd happened yesterday. One of them came to see me, first time I've ever seen it happen, a centaur seeking out a human that is. You remember Bane, the white aired one, well he insisted on seeing you at the first opportunity."

"So we're going to see them then?" Harry prompted as Hagrid paused with a worried look on his face.

"Yeah, don't take too much mind of what they say. Although they'll tell you otherwise the stars don't decide someone's fortune, only you can do that."

Harry nodded and the two fell silent, each in deep though. Harry hadn't really learnt much about centaurs by meeting them, most of what he know was from Hermione researching afterwards and sharing her findings with him. It had been Harry, Hermione, Malfoy and Neville who had made the ill fated journey into the forest with Hagrid. Harry presumed there was a safety review after this, as the rest of the detentions he'd had for the rest of the year had been simple lines or cleaning for Filch. Even the seventh years weren't ordered to do anything more dangerous than cleaning windows from brooms or collecting firewood from the eves of the forest.

It wasn't long before they reached a large open clearing, and they only had to wait for five minutes before three centaurs arrived. Harry instantly recognized Bane due to his bright white coat. The other two had dark dull coats and stood like guards on either side merely accentuating Bane even more.

"Harry Potter. It is an honor to meet you again, and fortunately under more favorable circumstances then our last encounter. I hope that you have recovered from the ordeal that…"

"Alright alright." Hagrid interrupted loudly. "We didn't come here just for pleasantries and you were hardly friendly the last time you met Harry. Now get on with what you want to say."

Harry was a bit surprised at Hagrid's tone, but he remembered some of the stories Hagrid had told him of the centaurs. They were more than happy to be polite and cautious when thy wanted something, but when you wanted something in return, they were as rude as possible.

"If that is what you wish Hagrid. We came here merely to extend the hand of friendship to Harry. We have been studding the stars and the alignment of Jupiter and Pluto at this particular season has led us to believe that a lot rests on the shoulders of Harry here. In contrast we fear the coming storm of Mars and Venus has the possibility of leading our race to extinction. When the time comes, we will stand and fight by your side. Until then Harry Potter."

Bane finished abruptly and backed away into the forest followed closely by the other two centaurs who had remained silent.

Harry wasn't sure what to think, there was plenty of time later for that, so he shrugged his shoulders and motioned for Hagrid to lead the way back.

He remained pensive on the way back, juggling the possibilities of a future war, and what it could mean to his life and the world around him. He'd heard plenty of stories of what the first war with Voldemort was like, and he wasn't in any hurry to try out for real the stuff he'd been learning recently.

Soon though Hagrid launched into a conversation about the coming year and how his Thestral pack was doing, and all the worries were pushed to the back of his head.

* * *

><p>AN: Anyone else notice that a group of first years go into the forest to hunt for a unicorn killer for detention, then in later years writing lines, and cleaning are suitable punishments. Damn, this story is turning into a 'pick holes in cannon' fest. I'll try to refrain from these prods in future, but I can't promise ;)<p>

A few people have commented that the chapters are too short. I wish to politely tell these people to go read my first author note, and trying to maintain this sort of schedule – it's pretty difficult, but I'm enjoying it. I know I'm jumping around the place with this story but hopefully things will settle down as I get more into the story. I have done very little planning so every day is a little adventure as I decide what to write.

I have very nearly finished writing the next chapter for 'It's a Bitch Convincing People to Like you' so I'll be updating that finally tomorrow!

Thanks to all my awesome readers and reviewers, sorry for the long AN, love you all :)


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